Agave cantala is a species in the genus Agave which contains approximately 257 to 341 species and belongs to the family of the Agavaceae (Century-plant Family). The type species of the genus is Agave americana.

Habitats

Not known as a truly wild plant

Range

C. America to southern N. America - Mexico.

Edibility Rating

Other Uses

Weed Potential

No

Medicinal Rating

Care

Translate this page:

You can translate the content of this page by selecting a language in the select box.

Summary

Agave: Agave cantala.
Commonly grown in Southeast Asia from the Philippines to India, Agave (Agave cantala) is, a succulent, evergreen, perennial plant that forms a rosette of leaves that grows up to 2 m long. It forms a flowering stem of up to 8 m in height towards the end of its life. The shoot buds are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. It is often used in landscaping as hedgerows and along rivers and brooks for reducing soil erosion. The leaves are great source of fibre used for making baskets, mats, ropes, hammocks, sandals, fishing nets, bags, and harvest binding strings. The roots, on the other hand, can be of great source of saponins that can be used as substitute for soap.

https://botanicimage.com/

Dinesh Valke wikimedia.org

Physical Characteristics

Agave cantala agave is an evergreen Perennial growing to 2 m (6ft) by 2 m (6ft) at a fast rate. It is hardy to zone (UK) 10 and is frost tender. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Synonyms

Furcraea cantala Haw.

Habitats

Edible Uses

Shoot buds - cooked and eaten as a vegetable[317
].

Medicinal Uses

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.

None known

Other Uses

Other uses rating: High (4/5). Agroforestry Uses: Often planted as a hedge along the roadsides and in gardens, it is also used for reducing soil erosion along rivers and brooks[ 317 , 418 ]. Other Uses A fibre is obtained from the leaves[ 317 , 418 ]. It is mainly used for baskets, mats, fishing-nets, ropes, harvest binding strings, hammocks, bags and sandals[ 317 , 418 ]. The fibre is finer but less strong than that of sisal (Agave sisalana) and henequen (Agave fourcroydes)[ 418 ]. It is more suitable for spinning than that of sisal[ 317 ]. Wrapping paper is produced from the remainders[ 317 ]. The roots contain saponins and can be used as a soap substitute[ 331 ].

Cultivation details

A plant of the drier tropics. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 17 - 30?c, but can tolerate 10 - 38?c[ 418 ]. It is able to withstand occasional temperatures down to at least -4?c, so long as the weather and soil are fairly dry[ 423 ]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,000 - 2,000mm, but tolerates 400 - 2,700mm[ 418 ]. Requires a sunny position in a well-drained soil. Prefers a pH in the range 6.5 - 7.5, tolerating 6 - 8[ 418 ]. The leaves contain about 4% fibre and yields of clean fibre vary between 1.1 - 3 tonnes per hectare[ 418 ]. A monocarpic species - the plant lives for a number of years without flowering but dies once it does flower. However, it normally produces plenty of suckers during its life and these continue growing, taking about 10 - 15 years in a warm climate, considerably longer in colder ones, before flowering[ 11 ]. The plant has a lifespan of more than 15 - 30 years[ 418 ].

Propagation

Seed - Allow pods to dry on plant; break open to collect seeds

Other Names

Agave: Agave cantala.

Found In

Coming Soon

Weed Potential

Right plant wrong place. We are currently updating this section.
Please note that a plant may be invasive in one area but may not in your area so it’s worth checking.

None known

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants Status : This taxon has not yet been assessed.

For a list of references used on this page please go here
A special thanks to Ken Fern for some of the information used on this page.

Readers comment

QR Code

What's this?

This is a QR code (short for Quick Response) which gives fast-track access to our website pages. QR Codes are barcodes that can be read by mobile phone (smartphone) cameras. This QR Code is unique to this page. All plant pages have their own unique code. For more information about QR Codes click here.

1. Copy and print the QR code to a plant label, poster, book, website, magazines, newspaper etc and even t-shirts.

2. Smartphone users scan the QR Code which automatically takes them to the webpage the QR Code came from.

3. Smartphone users quickly have information on a plant directly for the pfaf.org website on their phone.

Add a comment

If you have important information about this plant that may help other users please add a comment or link below. Only comments or links that are felt to be directly relevant to a plant will be included. If you think a comment/link or information contained on this page is inaccurate or misleading we would welcome your feedback at [email protected]. If you have questions about a plant please use the Forum on this website as we do not have the resources to answer questions ourselves.

* Please note: the comments by website users are not necessarily those held by PFAF and may give misleading or inaccurate information.

To leave a comment please Register or login here All comments need to be approved so will not appear immediately.

Content

Stay informed about PFAFs progress,
challenges and hopes by signing up for
our free
email ePost. You will receive
a range of benefits including:
* Important announcements and news
* Exclusive content not on the website
* Updates on new information &
functionality of the website & database

We will not sell or share your email address.
You
can unsubscribe at anytime.

All the information contained in these pages is Copyright (C) Plants For A Future, 1996-2012.
Plants For A Future is a charitable company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Charity No. 1057719, Company No. 3204567,Web Design & Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Some information cannot be used for commercial reasons or be modified (but some can). Please view the copyright link for more information.